"Dexter? Would you like to tell the class who was one of the primary leaders in America's first Great Awakening?"

Mandark and Dexter both snapped out of their various thoughts in surprise. Mr. Drummble looked at the redhead with a mixture of exasperation and dislike. He knew the redhead had not been paying attention and he did not know enough about history to save himself. So the self-satisfied teacher waited until the boy chose to admit this in front of the class. (If Dexter did, Drummble would be known by all the teachers in the region as the one instructor who managed to trip up the boy genius. Oh, he could not wait!)

"Um...wasn't that...?" Dexter frantically flipped through his notes, desperate to give the teacher a decent answer.

"Alright Mr. McPherson, how about this question? Who was the president that put down the Whiskey Rebellion?"

Dexter actually looked at Mandark for the answers to questions they had not even gone over yet, but the raven could not help if he wanted to.

"Can you tell me who the first president of the United States was, or is that too hard?" Everyone laughed, much to the redhead's chagrin. Everyone, he noticed, except for Mandark.

He knew that Mr. Drummble did not really want him to answer the questions any longer, so he kept silent. The teacher smirked with the knowledge of Dexter's embarassed submission and continued on with the AP US History lesson. When bell finally rang, Dexter was the first of his classmates out the door, with Mandark following close behind.

"Dexter! Dexter, wait up!"

Instantly reminded of the day before and of that negative, near-jealous feeling he had experienced, the redheaded genius quickened his pace. He just wanted to get to Chemistry (and forget about Mr. Drummble) as soon as possible. He didn't look back over his shoulder to see Mandark slow his steps in annoyance.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

"So Dexter, how was your day?" Mrs. Pherson asked her son trudged through the door. Her mirror image, save for the gender and generation gap, ignored her as he continued toward the stairs. She frowned, but persisted in her light-hearted interrogation.

"Dee Dee tells me you're close to having another boyfriend. I, for one, love the idea for that Astronomonov boy being in a relationship with you. I think you both...suit...each other...?" She watched her son shot her a warning look before turning back in the direction of his room.

"Dexter?"

But a door quietly shutting was her only reply.

Dexter grabbed his pillow off his bed and screamed into it. He had picked up the habit early in the semester when he discovered that excessive knowledge in science and mathematics did not help someone in other AP classes. He released his anger into the fluffy muffler so that he could waste no time in his lab by dwelling upon school events. He lifted his head and stood slowly, taking in the view of his room.

In the years that the boy genius had grown up, the room surprisingly, or not so surprisingly depending on who one asked, had changed only very slightly. There were multiple posters commemorating Action Hank, the same salmon walls and cream carpet colour scheme, and a large comic book collection-and of course massive scientific volumes-on a gigantic, floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall bookshelf.

Dexter smiled and took comfort in the fact that at least his room was familiar in his changing, demanding surroundings. He walked toward the bookshelf to enter his laboratory when something tapped on his window. He turned to the sudden sound and discovered...a duck. Mandark's duck.

What was the duck's name? Reptar? (1) No, it was Quack...something-or-another. The boy stratched his ginger hair, wondering how the bird found his house in the first place. It had never been there before....Right? (2) Before he could get too distracted with figuring out how the duck found its way into his residence, he shook his head of the window. He hesitantly let the bird in and watched as it flapped noisily to his bedpost so it could survey the room, almost as if making sure it was in the correct room. Apparently satisfied with what it found, the duck fluttered to the spot on the floor in front of Dexter, waddling up the few steps it took to present a letter in its bill that the redhead had not noticed.

Blinking rapidly, Dexter plucked the envelope from the duck's bill and double checked the sender's name, disbelief etched on his features. Why would Mandark, of all people, send Dexter a letter? It just did not make any sense.

Nevertheless, he opened the envelope and began to read the chicken scratch that was scrawled across the page.

Dexter,

How can I convince you that I love you? The question haunts me every morning when I wake and every evening when I sleep. Flowers didn't work and a little birdie told me you don't even want to look at your favorite candy bar anymore.

Dee Dee, Dexter knew. She was the one that told Mandark he did not like 100 Grand. He continued to read, wondering what exactly the note was supposed to amount to.

I'm left to wonder if there really is no hope for my heart.

I don't expect you to respond-you probably won't even read this-but I wanted you to know my feelings for you haven't changed....Please burn this letter after you're finished with it, I can't bear this embarassment of knowing you don't feel the same.

That's all,

Mandark

Dexter blinked down at the scrawled words in his hands. 'That's all?' What was he- nine-years-old? And why was Mandark was trying so hard? Was he really that fixated on humiliating his ginger rival...? But, today in History, Mandark's expression did not seem like the boy had wanted Dexter embarrassed. He would have laughed with all the others if that was the entire reason. So then what was Mandark trying to do...? Could it be possible Mandark truly had feelings for him?

He had not thought about it very long before his mother's voice floated into the room.

"Dexter! It's time for dinner!"

Even though her son had shunned her not ten minutes ago, her tone was light and joyous. Dexter groaned inwardly as he realised she was going to tell his father at dinner, if she not already.

He also considered the fact that now he could not work as much on his lab as he would like. He sighed, thinking about all the free time his classes and meals cut into. He quickly composed himself, stuffed paper in his lab coat and started downstairs.

Not entirely to his surprise, his entire family was all smiles as he entered the kitchen. He sat down next to his father and the blond man slapped him heartily on the back before withdrawing his arm and wincing in pain.

Mrs. McPherson looked at her husband in concern. "Is something wrong, Dear?"

"It's just the darndest thing, Honey. All day today my arm's been giving me trouble. I just don't understand it."

He smiled, but she frowned. "We should get that checked. Who knows if-"

The grin dropped a little, and steely eyes looked at Mrs. Pherson from across the table. "I'm not going to a hospital." Dexter's father stated firmly. "The last thing I need is some doctor getting you all so scared and worried about me you'd be willing to pay anything to 'fix' anything that's wrong with me."

"But you-"

"I'm not going." The smile was gone.

The family sat in silence for a few moments before Mr. McPherson sighed. "I'm sorry I'm so short today. I really should be focused on Dexter giving love chance." The two women smiled gratefully at the opportunity for a light-hearted subject. They all began playfully badgering Dexter about Mandark, eventually causing him to get up and rinse his plate off before heading up to his room.

And although he was not sure if he should, he allowed a smile to grace his features.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

A/N: So, this chapter is really late considering it's been done for a little while now and I just wasn't driven enough to type it up. I'M SORRY I FAILED YOU ALL! :(

So you'll find out what's wrong with Mr. McPherson in the next chapter, I promise! XD Well, I don't know why I smiled since it's not really a good thing....Anyway, explanations!

(1) A shout out to the Rugrats! They're the reason Nickelodeon is so popular today.

(2) Is Dexter absolutely positive? Perhaps he should ask his lab monkey....XD

Anyway, please review and the next chapter will be out soon!

Sayonara!

~theflawintheplan